Shanghai, 1920. American journalist Michael Sheridan saves the life of a White Russian prostitute. She bears the same name and an extraordinary resemblance to the Russian princess said to have survided the brutal murder of her family at the hands of Bolshevik revolutionaries, but is suffering from amnesia and cannot remember more than the last year of her life. Unravelling the mystery of her past takes Michael and Anastatia from the decadence of pre-war Berlin and London to Bolshevik Russia and New York, just before the Wall Street crash. Michael is the only man who has ever helped Anastasia without wanting something in return - but can she give up the chance to be a princess for true love?